'Change-order artist' fights back

High-speed rail bidder says when costs go up, it's the client's doing

“It is a design-build proposal where they stipulate an extensive program of requirements.”

He said the firms make specific commitments that essentially say they will deliver the program for the prices as quoted – “together with a financial guarantee from our surety companies that says that’s what it’s going to cost you,” Tutor said. “Period.”

Tutor said any increased costs could be caused by the rail authority, not his company. For instance, the plans call for rail officials to make land available so the builders can meet the quoted schedule.

“Say they don’t turn them over. There’s delays, there’s costs,” Tutor said. “These aren’t huge. They are not major. They are nothing extensive. And my assumption is that high-speed rail, like all owners, budget a certain amount for those issues that are beyond anyone’s control.

“It’s nothing major and it never spirals out of control,” he added. “That’s media (baloney).”

Tutor sued the Port of San Diego over the San Diego Convention Center, claiming that delays caused by port-hired construction managers cost his company $48 million. The port paid $17 million in 1993.

Tutor said his firm has likely built more civic works in the state than any of his closest rivals and he can’t remember any of them spiraling out of control. His firms have three more billion-dollar proposals going in this week on the East Coast, he said.

“We’re estimating what our labor workforce, supported by our equipment, can do,” Tutor said. “It’s what we do on a historical basis across the country.”

Allegations that his company engages in strong-arm tactics against its clients are ridiculous, he said.

“There’s no way we can blackmail the agency,” Tutor said. “They hold all the power over us ... There’s this pathetic idea that we have some power that if you don’t pay us, what, we won’t build? Then they won’t pay us. They have all the power. Not the general contractor.”

So what does he think about waning public support for the high-speed rail system, according to recent polls?

“When do you ever see a media article that’s positive about anything in California? Tell me. You ever seen one?” he asked. “Everything I ever read, there’s a cynical edge to it. Look at high-speed rail. Everybody lambastes it. Forget Tutor Perini. To build high-speed rail over the next 30 years to connect L.A. to San Francisco: How can anyone with any farseeing thought process see a negative in that?”